SOME BOOKS OP THE WEEK.
ree Cr der tt; .Arad.ing.air.u.ormlic...3.<1. Hooks of Ise ,seek as hays not been The Tragedy of Portugal. By Philip Gibbs. (L. Ilpeott Gill and Son. 4d.)—We are exceedingly glad to note that the very striking as well as very courageous articles which Mr. Philip Gibbs contributed to the Daily Chronicle have been re- published under the title The Tragedy of Portugal. We have noticed a good deal of them in our columns already, but we strongly advise our readers to expend fourpence in pro. curing the pamphlet. Even though they may have read the letters as they appeared, they will not fail to be impressed by their cumulative effect when read together. The story is, indeed, an appalling one, and may well make the cheeks of Englishmen burn for shame. Here, as in the case of slavery in the Portuguese colonies, it is not a matter of Monarchy against Republic or of Individualists against Socialists. With such affairs England has no concern. What she ie concerned with, and must be concerned with as long as Portugal is allied with her on the most intimate terms, is that she should appear to be giving her protective Alliance to a country which in its colonies tolerates the worst form of slavery, though, of course, under an alias, and at home has set up a prison system as awful as that of the Bambas.—In this context we may notice another pamphlet entitled Will England Save Portugal ? Our Hereditary Obligations, by Miss E. M. Tenison (same publishers, 2d.). Miss Tenison is a lady in regard to whom we may all feel proud, for she maintains the old and splendid tradition that the cause of the slave and the untried or unfairly condemned or tortured prisoner is always the cause of England. One of the most striking things in her pamphlet is the passage in which she draws attention to the fact that in 1846 Lord Palmerston rebuked the Portuguese Government of the day for its harsh treat- ment of political prisoners, and demanded a general amnesty as an indispensable necessity. Why will not our Govern- ment now tell the Portuguese that unless they give up slavery in their colonies, and the harsh and creel treatment of prisoners, tried and untried, at home, we will put an end at once and for ever to our protective Alliance ? That would not only stop these two horrors, but incidentally prove an enormous advantage to the Republic. As every other Government has found in the past, there cannot be a worse foundation for rule than cruelty and slavery. No doubt Liberal prints such as the Daily News and the Star will be shocked by such a statement as this and regard it as a piece of Tory snobbery, but nevertheless it is true.
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